-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A few hundred yards from the Pearl Roundabout , the epicenter of Bahrain 's protest movement , you can be blissfully unaware of the turmoil that has suddenly engulfed this island kingdom .

Caressed by the muzak of Richard Clayderman , you can wander the polished floors of a mall that would dwarf many in suburban America . There 's a Radio Shack , a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop and , it seems , every apparel store known to the United States . You can escape the political drama playing out here by taking in a movie at the 16-screen megaplex cinema .

Bahrain 's malls -- and there are dozens of them -- are emblematic of an aggressive drive to make this kingdom a Gulf powerhouse . The slogan is `` Business Friendly Bahrain . '' Big international banks are coaxed into setting up here ; Bahrain is the banking center of the Gulf . There is a surfeit of luxury property for rent .

High-profile international events are staged here -- including round one of the 2011 Formula 1 Grand Prix , but that was canceled last week due to the unrest .

A large pool of migrant workers provides cheap labor -- sometimes it seems there are almost as many Pakistanis and Filipinos here as Bahrainis .

Through the hazy glare , the Manama skyline boasts shining high-rise complexes , with more to come , despite a sharp decline in rental values over the past two years , according to international real estate agency Knight Frank .

But just a few miles from the malls , there are non-descript villages of narrow alleys and general stores , where the jumble of cheap goods spills onto the curbside . In the past week , the streets of several have been festooned with black flags of mourning . On Tuesday , 32-year-old Reida Houmeid was laid to rest in the seaside village of Al Malkiya . He was shot in the head by security forces last Friday near the Pearl Roundabout and succumbed to his injuries three days later . At his funeral , the Imam delivered a harsh judgment against Bahrain 's rulers , reminding mourners of the slaying and beheading of Hussein Ibn Ali in the year 680 , an event widely regarded as marking the definitive break of the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam .

Houmeid 's eight-year-old son stood near his father 's grave with a photograph around his neck . It showed him sitting on his father 's shoulders , a broad smile on his face . This day , his face was a study in confusion and sadness .

Within sight of Houmeid 's grave is the sea he loved as a fisherman . The gentle Gulf waters are the color of lapis lazuli ; the well-worn boats of the fishermen nudge against grander leisure craft . After the funeral , his brother Ghidir said Reida would sit in his boat and talk for hours about Bahrain and `` what was wrong . ''

The village saw a bitter and sometimes violent dispute about the fishermen 's access to the seafront , an incendiary issue here . Much of Bahrain 's coastline has become private property as the kingdom has become richer . It is just one of many grievances felt by the majority Shiite community in Bahrain , which has been ruled by the Sunni al Khalifa dynasty for 200 years . At the Pearl Roundabout , re-occupied by protesters since Saturday , one display shows satellite photographs of all the property purportedly owned by King Hamad and the royal family on the island .

The Shia complain of discrimination in housing , incentives offered by the government to non-Bahraini Sunnis to move here , and a lack of job prospects . But the Shia also have political demands , demands that have suddenly taken on a sharper edge with the events of the past week .

The chants of tens of thousands of marchers in Bahrain Tuesday included `` No Shia , no Sunni , only Bahraini , '' but also `` The regime must go . '' The call that most echoes around the Pearl Roundabout is `` Down , Down Khalifa . ''

Late Wednesday , some of the 23 political detainees released on Tuesday were due to appear at the roundabout to address a growing crowd . A campaign that began barely two weeks ago to demand constitutional reform is , at least in some quarters , morphing into one for regime change , according to both opposition sources and human rights activists .

Not that the king or Crown Prince Salman bin Hamid bin Isa Khalifa will entertain such a prospect . The crown prince is leading an initiative to start a dialogue with opposition groups , and the government is offering various olive branches . Besides the release of the detainees , it has promised an investigation into the killings of protesters -- the opposition says 10 died last week -- and it has cancelled the arrest warrant for Hassan Mushaimaa , leader of the more hardline Haq movement . Mushaimaa was due back from self-imposed exile in London late Wednesday .

The crown prince has also set no deadline for protesters to leave the Pearl Roundabout . For his part , King Hamad said Tuesday that `` the best alternative is to sit at the national dialogue table . '' But this is not a state accustomed to fast-paced political change , and diplomats say there is still disagreement within the ruling elite about what concessions to offer .

And then there is the regional dynamic . No sooner was King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia home after medical treatment in the United States than King Hamad flew to meet him . The two royal houses are close allies -- Sunni , hostile to Iran and pro-western . The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain . Regional commentators say the Saudi nightmare is to see the al Khalifa family toppled , with the Shia gaining ascendancy on an island so close to Saudi Arabia that it is linked by a causeway . Adjacent to that causeway are Saudi Arabia 's own Shia communities , in its oil-rich eastern provinces .

In another world away from those sparkling malls , a gritty and unpredictable power struggle is underway in the Gulf 's smallest country .

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Modern Bahrain is courting big businesses

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The Shia majority complains of discrimination

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The opposition is beginning to suggest regime change